


cross right over the barrier

by doctorkaitlyn



Series: tumblr fics & ficlets, part ii. [57]
Category: Buzzfeed The Try Guys (Web Series)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Episode Related, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Sharing a Bed, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 04:09:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15941498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctorkaitlyn/pseuds/doctorkaitlyn
Summary: There’s someone else in the bed with him. Someone has an arm thrown over his lower back, separated from his bare skin by the heavy comforter. That same someone has their forehead resting against his bicep, and their warm breath is brushing against his skin in a steady rhythm. It’sstrangethat there’s someone in bed beside him, because as far as he can remember, he was supposed to share with Ned last night.The fact that Keith is asleep on the other bed and that Ned just walked out the door is the glue that ties together facts one and two to make fact three.Namely, that it’s Zach beside him, still very much asleep and draped over him like some kind of octopus in training.





	cross right over the barrier

**Author's Note:**

> so a lovely nonny on tumblr sent me the following: _I know you have a million other prompts but if you could write some fluffy Zagene at some point I’ll give you my left arm and my whole heart._ since I was already thinking about writing some Zagene, it seemed like fate! this takes place during the [The Try Guys Feed Wild Animals in Alaska](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrnQiwYqKvQ) episode, because it's one of my faves. 
> 
> title from [Spend Your $$$](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_b2dFsEVhc) by Walk The Moon.

Eugene wakes up to the sound of tuneless humming.

It takes him a minute to realize that the sound is actually in the room with him, that it isn't part of a dream he's about to fall into or out of. The humming is punctuated by the occasional shuffling of feet on the carpet, along with the squeaking of bed springs and the slight thump of someone's suitcase opening and closing. When a couple of seconds (or maybe it’s minutes – Eugene’s grasp of time is a little lax at the moment) passes by with no halt to the humming, Eugene slowly cracks one eye open.

The light coming through the curtains is subdued and gray, early Alaskan morning at its finest. The space between the room's two beds is littered with detritus: discarded clothes, some equipment, a wrapper or two, a stuffed porcupine that Eugene vaguely remembers purchasing last night before they headed off to karaoke. Beyond that mess, on the other bed, Keith is sprawled out on his back, blanket bunched around his waist, snoring like a chainsaw.

At one time, back when they were just starting to do this all in earnest, _that_ would have woken Eugene up in a heartbeat. As is, he barely notices it before he looks down towards the end of the other bed and pinpoints the source of the humming.

Ned is sitting on the edge of the mattress, fully dressed for the day with a mug of coffee that Eugene can barely smell (either because it’s shitty hotel coffee or because he’s still mostly unconscious) in one hand and his phone in the other. Before he can shut his eyes again, Ned stops humming, drains his coffee and gets to his feet. After squeezing the empty mug into a sliver of space on the crowded dresser opposite the beds, he disappears from sight. Moments later, the door of the room opens and shuts with a quiet click.

Eugene vaguely remembers Ned saying something last night, before everything dissolved into alcohol and chaos, about wanting to get up early to go looking for a moose, so he assumes that’s where Ned is off to. Really, even if that _isn’t_ the reason he’s up and about at what seems like a ludicrous time of the morning, Eugene doesn’t care. What’s more important, at least for the immediate future, is that now that Ned has left and taken his humming with him, Eugene can fall back asleep. Closing his eyes again, he shifts slightly and prepares to do just that.

Approximately five seconds later, two related thoughts break through the haze clouding his mind, and his eyes flick back open.

The first thought is that there’s someone else in the bed with him. Someone has an arm thrown over his lower back, separated from his bare skin by the heavy comforter. That same someone has their forehead resting against his bicep, and their warm breath is brushing against his skin in a steady rhythm.

The second thought is that it’s _strange_ that there’s someone in bed beside him, because as far as he can remember, he was supposed to share with Ned last night.

The fact that Keith is asleep on the other bed and that Ned just walked out the door is the glue that ties together facts one and two to make fact three.

Namely, that it’s Zach beside him, still very much asleep and draped over him like some kind of octopus in training.

Trying to move as slowly as he can, Eugene turns his head so that he can get a better look and more accurately assess the situation. Zach’s hair is a mess of wispy flyaways, and his head is so close that Eugene would only have to move an inch or so if he wanted to press his nose to it. Zach is on his side, and while they’re only touching in a handful of other spots, Eugene realizes that some of the heat that he thought was from the heavy blanket is actually from Zach being so close to him. His other arm, the one that isn’t draped over Eugene’s back, is awkwardly wedged underneath himself, and Eugene does not envy the pins and needles that he’s likely going to have when he wakes up.

This is far from the first time they’ve been in such close quarters together. They’ve shared beds countless times, have seen each other totally naked in the most awkward of situations; compared to some of the stunts they’ve pulled for videos, this is downright tame. But whether it’s because of the pale light slowly but steadily brightening the space, or the quiet of the room (Keith’s snoring aside), or the way Eugene’s brain, while not hungover, is still filled with fuzz, this somehow feels different than all of those other situations. 

This feels like _more_.

Even though, aside from turning his head, Eugene hasn’t moved, Zach starts stirring. He shifts a little closer, so that their legs are brushing together, and he makes a quiet sound, somewhere between a groan and a yawn. His face presses in closer to Eugene’s arm, moves into something like a _nuzzle_ , and even though the whole reality of this situation is a lot to process, there’s something about how unguarded and unhesitant the movement is, how it’s almost the first thing Zach does, that makes Eugene want to return the gesture, in some kind of way.

Before he can venture too far down that path of thought, Zach apparently becomes aware of the exact nature of their predicament. He freezes in mid-nuzzle and his leg, where it’s pressed against Eugene’s, goes stiff as a board. He doesn’t slip his arm away from Eugene’s back; however, when he speaks, he also doesn’t tilt his head up, so the words end up muffled against Eugene’s arm.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles. “Want me to move?”

It would probably the best course of action, really. If Zach moved away, they could fall right back into their normal dynamic, fall back into the old patterns of ignoring the elephant in the room that has grown steadily larger over the years. Admittedly, it’s the lazy way of handling the situation, but at least it’s something Eugene is familiar with, something he knows how to do, even when his brain hasn’t properly awoken yet.

But, the pure and utter truth is that, while he’s tired enough that the lazy method _does_ look appealing, the slight weight of Zach’s arm over him, the warm presence of him inches away from Eugene’s side and the gentle rhythm of his breath against Eugene’s arm, is _more_ appealing.

“No,” he answers, shifting his head slightly so that he can rest his chin gently against the crown of Zach’s head. Momentarily, he thinks about bringing his own arm out from underneath the pillow, so that he can somehow sling it across Zach’s chest, but that seems like entirely too much effort, so instead, he closes his eyes again and continues, “Don’t move. This is good.”

Zach huffs something against his arm, something that might be _okay_ or might be some kind of wordless acknowledgement, and his leg relaxes again, brushes against Eugene’s. His fingers tighten on the comforter; Eugene’s pretty sure that, if it wasn’t for the layer between them, they would be curled tight around his hip.

Strangely enough, that thought, the thought of Zach’s fingers actually touching his bare skin, is also appealing.

Maybe they’ll talk about this in a little bit, once they’ve both woken up, before the cameras start rolling for the day. Maybe it’ll lead to something. Maybe Zach will laugh it off nervously and Eugene will go along with it. Maybe they just won’t discuss it at all.

But those are all possibilities and problems for the future version of himself to deal with. For now, all he knows, all that _matters_ , is that what he said to Zach is the truth.

For the time being, this is good.

**Author's Note:**

> as always, I can be found on [tumblr.](http://banshee-cheekbones.tumblr.com/) :)


End file.
